Favorites, Dark Horses And Potential Surprises For 2017 NBA Championship

Posted by Eric Williams on Thursday,March 2, 2017 1:01, EDT in

With the 2016-17 NBA regular season steamrolling to a fast and furious finish and the start of the playoffs just around the corner, pro basketball bettors everywhere are looking to get their postseason wagering plans in place.

Thanks to this expert NBA betting odds breakdown on the favorites, dark horses and potential surprise teams in the race for this season’s NBA title, you’re going to have a great idea of what will likely take place this coming postseason. Okay, with that said, let’s get started.

Favorites, Dark Horses And Potential Surprises For 2017 NBA Championship

 

 

Favorites

Golden State Warriors 5/11

The Dubs are still the prohibitive favorites, but the one month loss of Kevin Durant has almost everyone believe they can take the Warriors out this postseason.

Cleveland Cavaliers 3/1

The Cavs added veteran point guard Deron Williams and are reportedly set to add center Andrew Bogut is he can get out of his deal wth Philly (he will).

San Antonio Spurs 10/1

The Spurs have an MVP-caliber superstar in forward Kawhi Leonard and a couple of players that are just off the all-star level in LaMarcus Aldridge and Patty Mills, but the Spurs aren’t the most explosive team around. Still, as always, the Spurs will have a shot – and a pretty good one at that.

Houston Rockets 25/1

For me, James Harden and the explosive Houston Rockets represent the best chance of any team in the league of upsetting Kevin Durant and the Warriors, if only because they can score the ball like nobody’s business. The Rockets rank second to Golden State in scoring by putting up a whopping 115.0 points per game.

Dark Horses

Washington Wizards 70/1

I didn’t need to see the Wizards beat the Warriors on Tuesday night to know that they are now one of the most dangerous teams in the Eastern Conference. Washington has two players averaging over 22.0 points per game and another pair that contribute at least 14.0 points per contest.

Utah Jazz 100/1

The Utah Jazz may not be elite title contenders, but they do have the best defense in the league this season and s everyone knows, defense wins championships. The Jazz look like a great dark horse pick to upset someone this postseason.

Memphis Grizzlies 125/1

The Grizzlies aren’t the most explosive offensive team in the league, but they always seem to give Golden State problems with their ‘twin towers’ of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph.

Surprise, Surprise

Oklahoma City Thunder 225/1

With an MVP-candidate in the incomparable Russell Westbrook and a handful of other really solid players like Victor Oladipo, Steven Adams and the recently acquired Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott, I believe the Thunder could surprise in the postseason. Besides, who doesn’t want to see a Thunder-Warriors playoff series?